Ancol, a Co-Operative and owned wholly by South Australian Newsagents, runs Newspower in South Australia, owns KW Wholesale, which supplies stationery direct to schools, and Lighthouse Books & Office Supplies, another business that supplies consumers. Ancol acquired Lighthouse in recent years – it was not a core business for most of Ancol’s history.
What Ancol appears to have become via Lighthouse is a retailer of stationery, competing with the businesses of its shareholders. The Lighthouse website shows some the the schools with which Lighthouse partners:
From what it appears, Lighthouse wins the schools tender to supply stationery to students, then the school directs the parents to go online and purchase through Lighthouse .
Here are some examples of pricing :
- Glue Stick UHU 40g $3.20
- Display book Clear front $1.90
- Calculator Casio FX-82AU Plus11 Scientific $29.95
- Binder book 96pg exercise $1.40
- Markers Faber Castell Connectors 10’s $4.62
- Obviously the school is getting a kick back from Lighthouse Books somewhere along the line , hence the high pricing, however the Newsagent misses out completely
I am curious about what South Australian newsagents think about Ancol directly competing them through Lighthouse?
While it could be argued that success for Lighthouse strengthens Ancol and this benefits newsagents. Maybe so. But what about newsagents competing for Back to School How would a newsagent feel losing a school parent stationery sale to Lighthouse?
I know from discussions with newsagents across multiple states that Ancol prices to newsagents are considerably higher than elsewhere. Newsagents pay a premium if they buy from Ancol that must flow to retail prices, making those newsagents less competitive.
How would newsagents in the rest of Australia feel in GNS purchased a business like Lighthouse and through it chased school parent booklist purchases?
To see the retail of booklist business pursued by Lighthouse, take a look at part of a booklist for one school.
Newsagents will have to make up their own minds on this. My opinion is that Ancol should have been more transparent about its plans and given newsagents the opportunity to say it should not purchase a business that competes with them.
I recall Ancol failed to get a chorum for its AGM last year. Would members respond if asked.
More concerned with lack of trend products and failure of Ancol to supply 2017 diaries from Collins. Did GNS have issues with Collins for current fin year and calendar year?
Colin, GNS had huge problems with Collins diaries, so bad it’s January the 18th and I still haven’t received them all. I think it was across the board because I’ve been checking Officeworks website to make sure they haven’t got them and they were showing zero stock of what I was missing. GNS laid the blame on hold ups at customs, seems if that’s true it should have been sorted by now.
We made a decision this year not to participate in price cutting at BTS. Our main sales over the last couple of years have been whatever the majors have run out of or don’t stock.
As far as Ancol goes, they should not be in competition with its members, similarly govt. run agencies such as Aust. post should not be in competition with businesses.
Makes it very difficult when a Newsagent owned supplier competes with its own shareholders for business.
The purchase of LHB was a major change in direction from how Ancol previously traded as a wholesaler of stationery,to trading as a retailer
under the LHS book banner .
Did the board consult with its members ?
ANCOL is no longer competitive, they are a dinosaur in an industry now embraced by the majors. As a recent example; Papermate is investing heavily this season in their Inkjoy product. Woolworths has a fabulous range, very competitively priced and well packaged, yet ANCOL stocks just the standard product, no hang sell and no multi packs.
Ben there are other suppliers who have uptodate ranges with competive prices
Every year 2 positions become available on the Board of Ancol SA.
Ben when did you put up your hand?
Mark I know you resigned from the Board.
There is currently one position vacate.
If people are not happy, support your industry supplier, get on the Board and make a difference.
Last year we needed 2 attempts to obtain a quorum for our AGM.
You know the meeting where Board members are elected and where share dividends and trading rebates are allocated, yes Ancol does give out both.
What is interesting, is as usual Distribution Newsagents made up the bulk of members quorum who attend our AGM and who pass, for our Retailer cousin’s their trading rebate.
So if you’re not happy, don’t just whinge on this blog, get off the shiny seat and put your hand up.
The purchase of Lighthouse Books, added to Ancol’s core business.
Many SA Newsagents are benefiting from using (at no charge) the Lighthouse Books Back to School software to run their own “back to school”.
The profits from Lighthouse Books (and other subsidiaries), enable Ancol to provide the service, dividends and trading rebates along with best possible price.
John Fitzpatrick
Ancol Member.
John I think the board of any member based organisation is responsible for the numbers attending their AGM as meeting attendance is a reflection on the leadership.
Away from the newsagency channel and my businesses I have been chairperson of a community based organisation with a multi-million dollar budget for two and a half years. To ensure member engagement we host town-hall type community meetings through the year. This guides key decisions the board makes. It also sets us up for AGM attendance where we usually achieve well over 50% of the 390 financial members.
John,
You might find my thoughts a little left field and challenging, but I would gladly give up some time to be involved in Ancol.
John, I have looked at standing for the board in the past 2 years, however decided against it.
Ben,
All Boards need new members with ideas and experience, Ancol included.
Boards need to look at the age profile of its members and we need to know (not always easy) when to step down.
The more the diverse the group, the better out come for Newsagents.
I would encourage everyone who is an Ancol member to not sit back, be active in YOUR CO-OP and help improve the product range and service it provides.
John
John I disagree with your view of blaming Newsagents for not attending the AGM or putting their hand up to stand for a board position.
Its a reflection on the board and management that members are not involved.
Its the boards responsibility to actively engage with its shareholders
The lack of transparency with the purchase of Lighthouse Books and and the impact on Newsagents is the responsibility of the board.
Ancol’s shift to direct online selling was only revealed after the event ,members input was not sought
Of course Lighthouse books adds to Ancols business ,but at what cost to the retail Newsagent ?
Is a 2.5% trading rebate fair when the dividend rate on shares held is 9% which is outrageous considering the return on money in todays market .Wouldn”t it make more sense to reward the retailer with lower prices and a higher rebate ?
I actually proposed an increase to the trading rebate when I was a board member , I received ZERO support from the other board members all of who were at the time Newsagents.
With regards to new board members ,for many years the current board members always renominate to stand again which is fine ,but, I feel
Newsagents who may be interested may feel intimidated to have to run against a sitting director
John if you want to stand by your conviction of refreshing the board I would urge you to lead the way and stand down from the board allowing someone like Colin to fill the casual vacancy .
I would also urge the board to advise its members if ALL board positions are filled, has this been the case in the past ? maybe not ?
Mark R.
I did follow up with Ancol. There is no vacancy as such. There is an option to add another board member, but only if the incumbents agree.
On the one hand Ancol has long serving staff dedicated to their work, customer service at a personal level is good.
On the other hand I see an organisation steeped in tradition. The defences go up if your question use of technology, pricing and product ranges.
I recently asked how many of their customers were using POS re-order systems, the answer was “a handful”. Meanwhile Ancol reps visit outlets on a weekly and fortnightly basis to prepare orders, a service I effectively subsidise.
I think the broader question is: where to purchase stationery? If Ancol is failing on the shop shelves then look elsewhere. The best way to show a business they are failing you is to not give them your money.
Colin , Im not so sure it’s up to the board members to “allow” a Newsagent to fill a vacant position .
Ancol in being a CoOperative is required to adhere to the rules of the CoOperatives Act of South Australia , there are harsh penalties if the rules are broken. Along the way there appears to be some people who have lost sight of what Ancols core principals are
I agree with Mark Fletcher if you cannot access the range you require for your business look elsewhere